Gift items are often sent via a postal service or a commercial carrier to individuals for various reasons, such as birthdays, weddings, funerals, and anniversaries. It is thus necessary to place such items within a package that protects the items during shipment. In many cases, the item to be shipped is a plant including a stem having leaves, buds or flowers, and a root ball or seed ball. The root or seed ball is typically formed of an amount of soil bound about the roots of the plant by a breathable material, such as a piece of burlap. The root or seed ball enables the plant to survive the time period during which the plant is in transit, and then flourish in its new situation.
In order to protect the root or seed ball during shipment, the root or seed ball is typically positioned within a container suitable for enclosing and preventing damage to the root or seed ball. Usually, these containers take the form of rigid clay or plastic pots that not only protect the plant during shipment, but may also be used to display the plant after delivery. However, due to the size and weight of a clay or plastic pot, containers of this type significantly increase the overall weight and dimensions of the packaged plant to be shipped. Since the cost of shipping is typically based on the size and weight of the item being shipped, the use of a clay or plastic pot thus increases the cost of shipping a packaged plant to a point where it may become undesirably expensive.
Therefore, it is desirable to develop a shipping package that is lightweight, but able to protect the articles being shipped whether they are non-perishable food items, or plants, but especially designed to protect the root or seed ball and stem of a plant during shipment. It is also desirable that the shipping package may be used as an attractive display or adornment for the shipped article after delivery.